FEMA denies aid to religious groups hard hit by Sandy

Jul. 26, 2013

The first floor of Project Paul on Carr Avenue in Keansburg has been gutted, as the cleanup continues from superstorm Sandy. The project, run by a religious group, has been denied emergency funding from FEMA. / PHOTO COURTESY OF SAL CORTALE

Sal Cortale, executive director of Project Paul, speaks about the damage to the building during superstorm Sandy and how the facility is recovering. FEMA has denied the religious group's request for repair aid. / MARY FRANK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A Christian cross on the beach in Ocean Grove. The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, a religious group that owns the boardwalk, was denied repair funding from FEMA. / TOM SPADER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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KEANSBURG — Whether it be an overdue rent bill, a warm coat or a bag full of groceries, Project PAUL has been there for Bayshore residents for over 30 years.

But when the Keansburg-based religious charity went to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for financial assistance after superstorm Sandy caused tens of thousands of dollars in damages, officials say they got the run-around.

“We’ve always been a mini-FEMA for the community,” said Sal Cortale, the group’s executive director. “Now we’re the ones who need help.” Watch the video above to hear Cortale explain why.

Despite working to help the region recover after Sandy, several faith-based groups in the region feel FEMA has not sufficiently funded their own recovery efforts because of what the groups see as a misguided adherence to separating the church from the state.

“These groups have gotten the back of FEMA’s hand,” said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who sponsored a bill in the House of Representatives that would allow faith-based groups to follow the same FEMA reimbursement process as private nonprofit organizations.

In a rare example of bipartisanship during an era of bitter political division, the House voted 354-72 in February to approve the bill. A Senate version awaits review by a subcommittee.

The bill does have its critics.

Maggie Garrett, legislative director of the advocacy group, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said regardless of the good community intentions of religious groups, taxpayer dollars should not be used for repairing or replacing houses of worship such as churches, synagogues or mosques.

After Hurricane Katrina, FEMA similarly did not provide money to organizations seeking to repair damaged religious structures, Garrett said. Changing the policy now could easily add tens of millions of dollars in annual costs to an already bloated federal budget, she said.

“Once you start handing out money, it can be hard to figure out when you’re paying for the religious and when you’re paying for the non-religious,” Garrett said. “Houses of worship should be maintained by the faithful, not by the taxpayer.”

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FEMA generally does not comment on pending legislation, said Dan Watson, a spokesman for the agency.

In the Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has been assigned to take a look at the bill. The committee’s chairman, Delaware Democrat Tom Carper, has voiced opposition to the bill.

Part of parishes

Several of the damaged structures that FEMA is not funding are part of parishes that served as community centers or meeting places for volunteers in the days after the storm, said James Goodness, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark.

“The FEMA money has not been available,” Goodness said. “It would be extremely helpful. It would be a matter of justice.”

In the Diocese of Trenton, overall damages to dozens of structures and properties are expected to total somewhere between $12 million to $15 million, said Joe Cahill, a business consultant for the diocese who serves as its liaison to FEMA.

At St. Rose in Belmar, approximate damages totaled $4 million at the high school, $350,000 at the rectory and $250,000 at the church, Cahill said.

“Everything was floating in water,” Monsignor Edward J. Arnister of St. Rose said in June. “Everything was destroyed. We lost everything in the whole parish center.”

At Sacred Heart Church in Bay Head, the church structure had $750,000 in damages, Cahill said.

While the diocese had flood insurance, it likely will need to pay for some of the damages from its coffers, Cahill said. The diocese used $1.8 million in donations raised through its website and by special Sunday collections on social services, not on repairing buildings, he said.

“We haven’t received anything from FEMA,” said Cahill, who expects only a handful of facilities will ultimately receive funds. “I’m still hopeful that we’re going to get some assistance from them.”

One of the more prominent regional cases of a faith-based organization struggling to access FEMA funds involves the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, which owns much of the land in the Neptune oceanfront neighborhood.

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The association sought FEMA funds towards repairing its boardwalk, a portion of which Sandy destroyed. FEMA has twice denied the request, citing not the association’s religious affiliations, but that the federal agency does not pay for damages to what it deems to be recreational uses owned by private nonprofit organizations.

Garrett argues that the separation of church and state is a longstanding American belief that ultimately is about religious liberty: Citizens should not be required to give money to religions they may not necessarily support, she said.

Similarly, many congregations may not want the government prying into their internal affairs or telling them what to do.

“Government money usually comes with government strings,” Garrett said.

Government money for repairing damaged sanctuaries could open up questions of whether one religion is benefiting from the practice more than another and whether groups that some might consider “offbeat sects” should also qualify for the assistance, said Danny Goldberg, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Ocean County, which has not adopted a position on the issue.

On the other side of the debate, Goldberg notes that places of worship are often the centers of their communities, particularly during and after disasters, so excluding them from assistance could seem counterintuitive.

“It gets very tricky,” Goldberg said. “Our community hasn’t taken a position on this.”

Project PAUL (an acronym for poor, alienated, unemployed and lonely) lost all of its food and thrift store items to Sandy’s storm surge, Cortale said.

With several feet of water in the Carr Avenue building, volunteers needed to gut much of the ground floor and rebuild.

The charity hopes to receive at least $60,000 from FEMA for a variety of expenses, but after countless meetings with federal officials, has yet to receive a definitive answer on whether the money is coming or not, Cortale said.

“We’re trying to maintain the services to the people,” Cortale said. “We do need the money.”